John says... Hay pete, I have a grafted bisexual from daleys, its about 2 months old now and grown a meter tall. Its only surposed to grow to six foot. I will be getting many more of these. They will grow well there. Also try mangoes, pitaya, star apples, choc custard fruit and jacks. All these will grow there.

peter says... john,
thanks for your reply.
i have got lots of stuff from daleys already and will probably
get some paw paws from them also.
i have just been on their site
but cannot see any grafted
ones on their list.
do you know what sort yours is.

also have you tasted star apples before, if so what do you think.
peter.

James says... we got SEVEN Mangos from our 5ft mango tree here in Adelaide last season, it was its first year of fruit too... they were only small (Average Lemon size) & stayed green. It is grown in a pot as well!!!

I have not yet seen paw paws fruit sucessfully in Adelaide, neither have I seen jackfruits. I have not been successful myself with these types either. Believe me I have tried everything, including the "more" exotics like star apple, canistel, green sapote, jackfruit, carambola, coconuts and many others.

However be assured that mangos are tough as lemons here in Adelaide once they are established (this takes quite a while). A few huge samples can be found at the following locations:

Jantina says... vanl,are you saying you could not get canistel to fruit in Adelaide? I was thinking of trying them at Mt. Gambier.I have a close relative of the canistel, lucumo, on order.Fruitist assures me it will do ok here and he seems to be knowledgeable.

Jantina says... Thanks vanl,I hve ordered my lucumo from Limberlost nursery in Cairns.The tree is about $27 but the freight is horrendous.It is a years wait to get the tree grown.I am going to get a good quality greenhouse soon do you think a canistel would cope here then?

Grant says... Mangoes are tough as lemons. I have planted them in mid winter and they don't suffer at all. The main thing in winter is not the cold but not to over water and have free draining soil. This is similar for a lot of the sub tropicals. Papaya and carambola for example will thrive and fruit if provided with a little protection (shadecloth shelter, close to the house or amongst other trees) as well as the free draining soil conditions. Pepino will become a weed in the garden depending on how much water you give it.

Jantina says... Hi Grant, I have read a few times in various places that it is the wet feet more than the cold that knocks off the subtropicals so I am making sure that my pots are well draining and will let my plants dry out (not to the point of wilting) before watering as it gets colder, so far everything from pepino to rollinia is growing very well, I know that producing fruit might be another matter!

denise says... You can grow many plants better in containers if you add crushed charcoal to the mix-especially the lower 15cms. Also use no more than 15% of peat in the mix. It may also help to have a bony mix, some volcanic soils are suitable at about 5- 10% of the mix. Also if you can afford it-import seeds from many sources and try them all against each other. They may adapt to your specific microclimate better than mail order trees,You often get the odd shiner. although you should order the trees too for insurance.

Tanya says... Can someone please tell me what type of paw paws will grow from the long stems in the picture. I have never had these before. All of mine have always been like the ones in the other picture close to the trunk of the tree. Thank you.

Ronald says... amanda the pawpaw leaf and stem if you drink it as a tea ids a very good proteolytic enzyme, if you use the stem of a pineapple that creats bromelan another enzyme to fight cancer
I also use pomegranite

Ronald says... Very funny Steve and Kert, if you find a seedling, and it has two roots it is female,one root is male. Don't even think of asking me about Bisexual trees.
interested in your health my book comes ut next year. Meantime go to Natural Therapies page on web. Look at Day Spa on Hamilton. Thats a me.

Goretti says... I'm growing my paw paw from seed, it all started when I through paw paw seeds in the compost !!!
By the way, in order to let them grow only to a certain height, every little while I remove 3 of the top new leaves. Is that a known practice for you too ?

And I'm trying to find out why in Africa we drive a stick through its trunk .... oooooh sounds spooky doesn't it ?

Ronald says... Hi Jan Happy New Year: Paw Paw Leaves and Stems,have been used to help with
cancer patients. It is a Proteolytic Enzyme, thus cleaves to protein and helps disolve it
Patients have used this in conlunction with other minerals and vitamins, go to www.chrisomega.com. Hope this is of help...Ps only use 2 gms ofsundried pawpaw leaves and stems with hot water 1/2 hour before breaky Papain very good from Female Paw Paw tree, sorry guys.

amanda says... How does the papain survive the digestive juices of the stomach? Are u saying the enzyme helps dissolve the cancer?
There is no way the enzyme would travel thru your blood stream in it's natural state. It must be something else that helps.

Driving a stake/nail/hammering a brick into the cleft etc through a branch/tree causes trauma to the tree. This can shock it into fruiting as it thinks it might die and needs to sow it wild oats/procreate etc. I.e. you have a tree that just has never fruited (past its normal fruiting age) or you get low numbers of fruit etc, you might try that method. We used it for our Lemon trees back on the farm. Very little/speratic fruit 1 brick 1 hammer bashed it into the fork of the tree, now it fruits heavily all year round.

It sound like bs but there is something in all those wives tales, you just need to think about it scentifically and do some trial and error.

Dont do it with a tree that isnt pretty much a lost cause already though, else you might kill your young plant before its even meant to bear.

Ronald says... Hi Amanda thank you for your question, I have been working with patients, for decades, in this research I have found enzyme therapy very successful in the overall treatment for "C" Also, it is important to take enzymes on an empty stomach. A stack of research shows that enzymes, when taken in this manner, will go into the bloodstream and clean it up. And in the process digest and kill cancer cells. Take both a plant based digestive enzyme along with pancreatic enzymes high in Trypsin and Chymotrypsin for the best results. Take both with meals for improved digestion, and on an empty stomach to get into the body. Also use/ Citrus Pectin (assists in prevention of Mestasis) vIT C, SELENIUM, OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT, APRICOT KERNEL.
I hope this helps u a little more

ken says... I have been using 6 leaves& stems fresly picked boiled for 1 hour then simmered for 1 1/2 hours cooled then sqeezed makes about 10 ltrs refridgerate I drink 2ltrs a day I started to notice a difference the next day

Kylie says... I have two new one metre high paw paw trees that were growing great but last week noticed that all the leaves were missing. Not fallen off on the ground - they are missing. The branches seem to have died now also, they were greenish on the end last week but are all brown now. The stem of the trees are still green and there are a few very small new leaves starting to grow off them.
Can anyone help me? Is this normal?
I have grown them from seed and would like to keep them for fruit.

snottiegobble says... Ronald, did you know that babaco also tenderises meat & is reported to contain 4 times the papain of Papaya. Of course it is also a Carica,so one of its parents, mountain papaya also contains these wonderful enzymes that are so valuable to the function of the pancreas.
Yes I also heard that the leaves of pawpaw( papaya)may destroy cancer cells as does mangosteen. Just login to www.pubmed.com & search "mangosteen, xanthones, papaya,turmeric,asparagus,etc.

ronald says... Several issues the babaco is extremely difficult to get a hold of, without people having fertilisers on the leaves and fruit...
Mangosteen, should be used with caution, and should not be used after chemo radiation therapy, due to the impact it has on liver enzymes...or damaged liver from chemo, I am not to sure of the % of fatalities with this, but just be warned..

ronald says... Several issues the babaco is extremely difficult to get a hold of, without people having fertilisers on the leaves and fruit...
Mangosteen, should be used with caution, and should not be used after chemo radiation therapy, due to the impact it has on liver enzymes...or damaged liver from chemo, I am not to sure of the % of fatalities with this, but just be warned..

allybanana says... i have some shoots spare of a bisexual Carica pubescens if any one wants some allydalton.sculpture@gmail.com. You are right about its toughness babaco gets die back with the frost. C. pubescens sets fruit hear on the southcoast NSW in winter during frosty weather, the pith around the seeds is edible but the tast is not brilliant.

snottiegobble says... Sorry Ronald you are WRONG! It is the anti-inflammatory xanthones in the mangosteen that may help
the liver recover after Chemo has done so much damage to it. In fact if taken 2 to 3 weeks before chemo
& during the program a lot of the nasty side effects like nausea & hairloss may be greatly diminished.
The apricot kernels are effective also because they contain a very tiny ammount of cyanide(1 molecule) along with 2 molecules of sugar,& one of Benzaldehide. This is called laetrile. or B17 . Enough to attack
& destroy C cells only! we all
need to remember that in the olden days fruit was so small ( crab apples for inst) people couldnt afford to throw the cores & kernels away like
we do now with our lush developed strains of fruit. As a preventative
even apple & pear seeds have the tiniest amount of B17 & should be eaten.
I used to eat up to 8 apricot kernels per day for 2 years so dont tell me they are poisonous.There are people in an area of Afganistan that live well over 110 , yes they are poor peasants & grow apricots for a living.

amanda says... That's interesting snotty - I would be more inclined to believe anti-inflammatories crossing into the blood stream.

The idea of papain crossing into the blood stream is a big stretch, however - it is a proteolytic enzyme. I used to use it to LYSE and breakdown red blood cells and other blood proteins that gunked up the machines in the laboratory. I really don't want to 'have a go' here - but I believe people should be given the best chances thru intelligent observations - natural or otherwise...

Ronald - is there a carrier molecule for the papain that exists in the human blood stream? All human proteolytic enzymes have a Binding Protein that they travel with - keeps them for digesting your body...??

Ok - off my soap box (oops - sorry everyone) but - u can always test a vial of whole blood mixed with some papain if u don't believe me. Get your local Lab to centrifuge it and see what u think then....

Also snotty - if apricot kernels were a so toxic then why have the oil on the shelf...!? (TGA will likely "see to that" in the future though....they are quite serious/scary folk....)

PS Ronald - it's actually ok to prove that something works - even if we don't know why....modern science cannot explain many things...and that's fine. I wonder how long St Johns Wort has been taken throughout history - until it was actually "proven" to work...?

For me - I think it's ok if something "works" - even anectodally - as long as someone is not pocketing a big profit from it..then they perhaps obliged produce evidence - just like pharmacology companies perhaps..? otherwise - it's a conflict of interest.

Jason says... What a load of rubbish :)? can't you see that plants don't want you to eat their seeds?. They go to major major effort to produce a fruit thats highly nutritious with an inedible and toxin filled seed and you go and eat it?! :P. I'm sure you can eat plenty more than 8 apricot seeds a day for 2 years without killing yourself but if you were in high health you wouldn't be trying such silly things in the first place. Or just because you can eat limited amounts of rat poison every day for 2 years, that's not something you should do either. Apricot kernels, especially the commercial varieties we have here have ALOT of cyanide not "one molecule". Much better of slowly killing yourself on Almond seeds if that's what you are into.

Any reasonably intelligent mammal with a good nose, like say... a rabbit knows not to eat seeds from fruit, they are born with that ability. It's pretty amazing some humans are silly enough to unlearn such a basic rule of nature :).

Give anyone a good clean environment and a limited calorie diet and they will live to over 100. My grandmothers nearly 100 and lived on not much more than biscuits and plain slices of bread almost all her life. The key being... not many biscuits :), that's the same as everyone else at a high age in the retirement home, they are all non drinkers, non smokers, don't eat much at all and never have

Jason says... Lol whats the boring life, my grandmother was a party animal back in the late 20s in Saint Kilda :). She just didn't eat much during her life, eating is not a leisure activity :). Hard to believe but the chef's in the oldies home have been instructed by her for the last two years to have one slice of bread with Vegemite on her plate for breakfast and one slice of white bread on the plate with tomato sauce for dinner. That's all she wants. She's old enough and knows herself well enough to do whatever she wants :). You can go visit her yourself and see the lone slice of bread on the plate yourself, I promise it's quite the sight to see :). Not that anyone else in there eats much more

note: (she takes a multi vitamin or two also since there's nothing in bread)

snottiegobble says... Naw, keep it going, jason is digging a big hole for himself. Sunflowers kernels,almonds sesame, rice, quinoa,wheat,oats,nuts, coconuts,etc. etc are ALL seeds, Jason
Take my word for it if you need to fight the big "C" along side prescribed methods then why not have a few strings to your bow using known natural 'C" cell destroyers & inhibitors?
MANGOSTEEN JUICE
ASPARAGUS
CRANESBILL
APRICOT & BITTER ALMOND
& finally
PAPAYA. ( PAWPAW)
There, we`re back on track!

snottiegobble says... yes of course Amanda, tomatoes specially for the guys, & I also forgot one of my favorite "C" fighters Turmeric. try replacing the salt on the table with turmeric & you`ll have a healthier, sunnier meal!
Back to the subject: The papayas trees
are quite plentiful in Darwin including the Botanic Gardens where they were part of an area called Community Food garden. They werent ripe but we grabbed some lemongrass & Thai basil to use later.

Yes jason you are right, annona seeds are toxic
usually used for killing intestinal worms and headlice so short duration usage. its the fruit and leaves that are allegedly cancer prevenetative and these dont have the toxins

also plants tend to protect against seed predators so make things like poisons that are laxative or emetic to increase the passege through the gut or train avoidance.

plants favour fruit eaters that pass seed whole, or as humans, orangutans and chimps do -spit out seeds, or form a 'wadge'(mass of seeds and pulp). some of the healthiest fruits contains compounds that are very good for fruit eating mammalian health for the often extinct megafauna that used to spread them - like avocado, annona, papaya, chocolate pulp

but another factor is that humans are quite tough to poisons, you only have to look at how much alcohol we can put away and other pyschoactive drugs. No tooth or claw but one hell of a liver and brain!
and anyway its all about the dose! a little is therapeutic , a lot is a poison - that idea is at least? 2000 years old

one rule of thumb i heard is that you should only eat as many apple seeds as you find in the apples you eat - its self limiting that way.

Papaya leaves can be eaten as a steamed of boiled bitter veg too, just the top bunch
In jamu tradition it makes the blood 'bitter' and is said to prevent malaria. Not sure how, maybe like when eating neem leef it makes you less tasty!(neem is systemic)
Its also used as a contraceptive. I was told in Indonesia by a female herbalist that to prevent conception a steamed and cooled to warm wad of young leaves is inserted as an emmenagogue. Very useful when you live in a place you cant get the pill on PBS!
In general papaya should be avoided by pregnant women, unripe papaya is a well known abortive even consumed orally, as is unripe pineapple.
I guess that makes green papaya salad and especially healthy food for Young women in Asia! stop you having 10 kids by the time you are 30!

kert says... Not sure about the ancient wisdom of native peoples. Are there not 130 million odd people on Java ? Maybe eating green papaya leaves would work if it was eaten instead of having sex. I believe part of the problem is there are no really cold showers in Java.
Just to prove the point ,think of India where there are more holy men , gurus and fakirs per square mile than just about anywhere else. And it is a pit of misery.

snottiegobble says... You speak a lot of sense Rev specially about the seeds with laxative effect. The extract of Cascara sacrada taken in my youth just about ruined my colon for life. You see we are not meant to take these things constantly & I did.There was no such thing as psyllium husks available then.
Anyone tasted papaya seeds? They are quite peppery.

snottiegobble says... Hi John,
We spent some time in Darwin & met a lady with a huge nursery & personal garden. Maybe if you contact her she will send down pawpaw leaves for you.
Her name is Teena Sandford of Darwin Plant wholesalers. 08 8988 1888
meanwhile there are a host of cancer cell destroyers & preventers she can take.
TURMERIC as a tea or in warm milk.
HERB ROBERT leaves as a tea.
ASPARAGUS raw or tinned every day
APRICOT KERNELS ( B17)
GINGER as a tea, pickled or confectionary
ALOE VERA JUICE Buy the best.
MANGOSTEEN JUICE We are distributors & can put you onto someone in melb area.
Finally check out www.pubmed.com (public medical info) & search each of the above mentioned for research results on cancer. For instance Mangosteen/ xanthones ( anti inflammatory phytonutrients)
properties have many positive test results from universities from around the world but particularly SE Asia where the mangosteen grows. Very technical stuff but the last couple of sentences in each paper indicate how active the fruit is in killing the cells in laboratory tests.
Good luck!

Mazelle says... If you still lookiong for pawpaw leaves for your wife there is a man in Childers in Q that sends pawpaw leaves all around Australia..His name is Noel Rauchie of 42 Redridge Cresent Childers Q 4660...Phone 07 4126 8268 between 6-30 and 6pm daily... if the wife has cancer she can have the leaves for free if you pick them up... he sends boxes of leaves out and he also sells the dried tea leaves... hope this helps. . . . Ruth

ronald says... I will notify u re publication date by BRUMBYS....God Bless..have you looked into intra cellular DNA, via R Alpha Lipoic Acid? Quite interesting if you see the cellular functions in the womb

kert says... Someone needs to point out- and it seems to fall to me - that is against the law to treat a cancer unless you have medical qualifications. This stricture applies specifically to cancer and is justified if vulnerable people are to be protected from charlatans ,well-meaning or otherwise.

ronald says... ONLY AGAINST THE LAW DUE TO THE LARGE DRUG COMPANIES HAVING FEAR OF SOMEONE FINDING A CURE THAT WOULD SEND THE COMPANY TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS POORER,
SCIENTISTS HAVE NO MEDICAL BACKGROUND SO WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM

sailingedward says... Hey John, just came back from Kosrae in Micronesia. The natives are boiling up SOURSOP leaves, 10 at a time and making a type of cold tea and drinking a glass a day to cure cancer and tumors. Google it and see what you find , very interesting, I just bought a tree on ebay, I am looking for someone who has a mature tree so I can buy leaves.

kert says... Thanks , ronald . Now I know what is happeneing. The drug companies are suppressing "the cure" As for me I'll put my trust in Mother McIllop.
Alas, soursop and all the Annoniacae have been implicated in neurological disturbance and outright malfunction . This has not stopped me eating cherimoyas but I would draw the line at daily consumption.

BJ says... Cancer is not a single disease, with a single cause. There is certainly not a single cure. This means different treatments are required for different forms of what is a very broad spectrum of disease.
Many medications (for loads of different ailments) are derived from plants. When you purchase a drug that is approved by AMA and relevant food and drug bodies then you are getting a carefully measured dose of the relevant active ingredient, that has been tested for many, many years so that the side-effects are also known. When you simply eat the source material (i.e. a bit of the plant) then you don't know the dose you are getting or what other chemicals may be there (it is a terroir thing). A classic example is foxglove - a good source of heart medication for very particular issues, but you'd not want to risk actually eating foxglove as the wrong dose will kill you.
Extensive, and very expensive R&D testing is required over many, many years to determine the correct doses for particular illness profiles, race of the patient (yes, this makes a big difference), age of the patient and physiological make up (how fat, skinny etc you are). The patent then only has a limited life-span ... so 'new cures' are in the drug companies interest, not holding onto old ones and supressing any new development.
If we're looking for peer reviewed studies before we put 'magic' fertiliser on our plants then please check the peer reviewed studies before you put 'magic' food in yourself.
I sincerley hope that anyone suffering from cancer finds a cure of their ailment - but be careful and use someone qualified to legally provide such advice.

ronald says... VERY GOOD BJ BUT LET US NOT LOSE FACT WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE 6 FEET UNDER WHEN WE ARE WALKING ON THE PLANTS AND HERBS AND SEEDS THAT MAY HAVE SAVED THEM, THINK ABOUT THE REMARKABLE NETTLE

Jason says... I'm not so sure it would dwarf them but you should be able to take cuttings just as easily as all the other papaya species. You just chop up a branch into 20-30cm lengths and poke them deep in some dirt. Some people say to lay them in damp river sand for a while to heal first but just poking them in the ground or a big pot seems to work fine enough. Anytime it's warm enough for them to grow should work

allybanana says... I have grown mountain paw paw and babico from cuttings they still get big. I am assuming paw paw will behave in a similar manner. Just bury a stem with leaves on top in open light soil or potting mix try not to overwater as rot is the biggest problem, now is an okay time.

Thanks very much, I will give it a try (or maybe wait a week or two if waterlogging is a problem- we have been having a bit of weather, as Wayne was saying). The dwarfing information comes from the Daley's shop site:

'Pawpaw - Cutting Grown Southern Red.

A cutting grown Paw Paw is dwarfed in size and the fruit is produced low to the ground. Also suitable for growing in pots. It is possible to have fruit within 4 months rather then taking 18 months..'

snottiegobble says... Remember Hippocrates said " LET FOOD BE YOUR MEDICINE" there is a more modern quotation " YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.
Those of us who choose to grow & eat organics, drink moderately & dont smoke generally have a longer expected lifespan with less illnesses. If we choose to supplement our diet with natural nutriental food as well it may help improve our lifespan with a better quality of life!

Steven says... hey everyone, i just want to ask what people think of the Pawpaw - Southern Red here at daleys for 9.90 each. Does it make nice fruit? how long do they take until they fruit? how high do they grow?

I want to put it in a greenhouse, but i was thinking of getting the cutting grown dwarf variety but its never in stock.

ronald says... hey every one have a very joyous holiday
my Paw Paw trees have died and need some seedlings male and female also need leaves any one help Ronald (I have moved from Brisbane to Wyee Point NSW frost in winter is my worry

snottiegobble says... Amanda isnt leaving her property just yet.She has house sitters while she is away in Bali. just hope she & her family
cover themselves in Deet cause my daughter was very sick from Bali with Dengue.Thankfully she recovered very quickly due to the anti inflammatories in mangosteen juice.
Amanda will be posting again soon.

Charlie says... Hi,
someone asked at the beginning of this thread if fruiting paw-paw had been seen in Adelaide. I lived in Archer St North Adelaide 15 years back and my neighbours had excellent fruiting paw-paw in their front yard along with stone fruit and citrus. It wasn't sheltered, just planted in the row. Wish now that I had asked what type it was. Mango grows well here, as does avocado.
A fun and fast growing tropical fruit tree that does exceptionally well is tamarillo. Easily grown from seed.

snottiegobble says... Thanks Charlie, that means I have a chance of getting papaya fruit in Sth W WA.
yep tamarillos are great little trees to grow, I just planted one out that I grew from seed this season,& is already over 40cm. Just remember to start new ones off every 3 years because they are short lived.

snottiegobble says... Steven, I had heaps of papaya seedlings growing out of compost (I spread for growing tomatoes) in my polyhouse Sth West Vic. In fact they were like weeds!
Naturally I kept a few & potted them up, but come winter even under plastic they deterioted to just trunks which rotted away. I think you will need to protect them from not only the frost but the cold dampness. Maybe even inside by a window would help!
My yellow papaya was down to 2 tiny leaves under plastic even here in WA & it started its spring flush of leaves with the dreaded mosiac virus. So its a cottonwool job Im afraid during the colder months. Good Luck!

Town Farm says... I have a male paw paw tree that is about 3 years old and last year it 'threw' lots of fruit. They are on really long stems. I read somewhere that they are really sweet. Can you tell me whether they ripen the same as other paw paws. They seem to be taking a long time to ripen if so. Would appreciate any advice on this.

Town Farm says... Thanks Wayne. Will try your suggestions. I have noticed yesterday that one of the fruit is starting to yellow slightly - very exciting. Will still apply the epsom salts and borax though. Cheers

Steven says... Vitamin B17 which is most abundant in apricot kernels is said to help people with cancer. look it up on the internet there is alot of information and people who claim it has helped them. I havent had any first hand experience with it but you have nothing to loose.

snottiegobble says... The apricot kernels are available in bulk from Shepperton & worth a try! You will probably have to sign the order form that they are for 'replanting' However they are still in their 'stones' which means they are fresh! Very important!

Steven says... Only very small amounts you, would have to eat alot of them to get sick. were only talking 6-12 kernels per day. ive got an apricot tree in the backyard and regularly eat the kernels, ive never even felt sick from eating them. In fact, amaretto is traditionally made from apricot kernels and is a very popular italian liquor.

kert says... Nick, please stay on message> apricot kernels are "natural" ergo they MUST be safe. If they contain cyanide that's only Nature's way of weeding out those who are a sandwich short of a picnic.

snottiegobble says... Nick, apricot kernels are almost homeopathic, the cyanide content is so small it only attacks the cancer cells.
If you like the taste of marzipan you will enjoy the kernels.
Even apple & pear pips have tiny ammounts of cyanide & people once ate the cores, pips & all when the fruit were all crab apple size. very little cancer in those days!

Steven says... Kert relax! no lives are being put in danger! While i agree with your comment in regards to peoples false belief that natural in inherently better (marketing strategies have taken a strong liking to this) aside from that fact that snake venom 100% natural as is crude oil, bitumen and octane! It holds no merit here.

There are toxins in many things we eat every day. Parsley can give you kidney and liver damage, potatos and other members of the nightshade family are also toxic as with many other foods, carrots i believe also contain toxins.

But you have to remember toxic as a word doesnt mean anything. People die from whats know as water toxicity. As such water has a level of toxicity, as with any other chemical in the universe! whats important is the level of toxicity, i.e. the dosage required to case fatalities in most people. while many or even most of the foods we eat contain toxins they dont produce levels great enough to make us sick!! (unless they are eating in large quantities)

A couple of days ago I ate 10 apricot kernels in one sitting! im still here arent i? I didnt even feel the slightest bit sick! in actual fact. my uncle once ate half a bowl of apricot kernels. At the time i was a little concerned and told him not to eat that many. but he is still here, he didnt get sick from it in even the slightest.

I wouldnt recommend eating them in large amounts, or giving them to young children without closely monitoring them first. But they are fine to eat.

kert says... My granny smoked like a chimney and drank a litre of gin daily ;she lived to 90 . Is that evidence of the harmlessness of smoking or gin?
This isn't a site for cancer cures or even a site for fruitcakes who believe they can cure cancer. What's more it is a criminal offence to hold out that you treat cancer if you are not medically qualified . People are uniquelly vulnerable when they have cancer. It is evil to exploit them.

Plants are 'chemical factories' and most drugs are either extracted directly from or are synthetic copies of chemicals found within plants.

To be quite honest if ive got something wrong with me ill go to the chemist before i go to the local fruit shop but a mixture of traditional and natural medicines is probably the best way to deal with problems (in my opinon anyway)

snottiegobble says... Thanks Steven, yes I always grow organic broccoli from autumn through to spring along with the other brassicas.
Unfortunately then the cabbage white butterfly becomes a real pest followed by the more elusive & damaging cabbage moth grubs that are so hard to find.

kert says... Look ,I repeat. This is not a cancer cure site or past lives or for crystal therapy. Doubtless there are such sites for you to reveal your stunning discoveries regarding cancer therapy- that have somehow eluded conventional medicine . And stay within the law - you cannot tout for patients/victims to "cure" cancer. Not here or anywhere.

kert says... I take your point about how precious your time is and that you will not "waste" it on me; which is exactly what I asked for. Do not use this site to propagate your bizarre theories .It is an abuse and ,further, you are indulging in criminality if you advertise for cancer patients . Got it?

Jason says... :S I can't believe you people are purposely eating Apricot kernels and other toxins in the hope of curing a disease caused by toxins and DNA damage in the first place. No one listens to me but you would be 1000 times better off in taking the toxicity stress off your body if you just stopped eating grains that contain gluten as early in life as possible

amanda says... Well I was going to stay out of this one ;-) but I would also point out that people doing research on the internet for natural plant therapies will likely find this site - as there is a wealth of knowledge on:

1) how to grow these plants and
2) where to locate them, etc.

It is none of anybodies business (mine included) as to what people choose to put in their own bodies, for whatever reason.
Nor is it my moral right to judge them, based on what they put in their bodies, for whatever reason. I can choose to agree or disagree and that's ok. Like Steven says - move on.

There are con-people all over the world kert. Most of us are aware of this - but I don't see any forum regulars promoting anything for their own financial gain here.

snottiegobble says... Yes I agree Wayne.
Back to pawpaws; Mine is in a large pot without much of a future because I wouldnt be able to get it back into the greenhouse for winter with all of its present foliage so if anyone would like some leaves let me know! It managed to get flower buds to the cream petal stage, but no developement since then.

Miranda says... in China, people grow Pawpaw from seed, when it reaches about 40cm high, they dig it out and cut off about half of the taproot, then plant it to it's permanent place. That will guarantee every tree produce fruits.

Miranda says... Back to my childhood in China, every front or back yard had one pawpaw tree fruiting all year round. I was told that trees might only flower with no fruit without cutting the taproot.(male plant?) 10 years ago, I bought a pawpaw from fruit shop and plant one seed with this old Chinese method. It fruited in the same year, but Sydney's winter was too cold to ripen. How to tell a male or female plant before the tree flowers?

emma says... hi i live on the gold coast and was wondering where abouts anyone in qld gets there paw paw leaves (female). the iridologist i saw said that some people that farm these plants could quite possibly just give them to you off there trees free of charge, but if not i would pay. just wondering as i am very new to this
Emma Parr

Ron says... glenda female tree contains fruit as well as the bisexual tree they produce papain protyolytic enzyme, very useful with digestive complaints, the leaves and the stems should be sun dried, and made into tea, which should be golden colour, you should be able to get paw paw trees at your local nursery, if you live in Qld, hard in NSW they hate the frost....

Gregory MacCarthy says... Hello Folks!
Great forum and it is nice to read all the comments coming from Oz as I am a naturalized citizen. Every time I visit an Aussie website I have to squeeze back a tear as I haven't visited since '96.

Now that you have read the thrilling introduction to this missive allow me to cyber probe you all in order to get clarification re; one of Daley's you tube videos on growing paw paw from root stock?, from part of the stem?

The paw paw tree was very short and dripping with fruit at 5 months. But the video, though enjoyable, was not very instructional and lacked clarity in regards to which part of the tree is used and how to get "that" part to root.
To be able to do this here in Bolgatanga, Ghana would be great to know as it gets very hot, windy and dry during the dry months. If we could grow paw paw as fast as possible on short trees behind our limited wind breaks then it would be like all of our Christmases coming at once. Thanks for your help.
The first picture represents "before", the second picture almost four years later.

Do any of you in the tropics or sub - tropics grow moringa? Amazing stuff! An easy to grow super food. Google it.
Gregory

Phil@Tyalgum says... Yes Moringa is becoming very popular here due to it's versatility - used a lot by South Asian and Filippino communities. Great to have you on board Greg (notice how we aussies still always shorten your names).

Gregory MacCarthy says... G'day Phil! It was always Greggo, Phil.
Thanks for writing. Good to hear about the moringa scene expanding in your parts. You live in such a beautiful place. Spent a good chunk of time in Upper Wislon's Creek. Be well Phil.
G

Phil@Tyalgum says... We always imagine your roadsides are dripping with all sorts of exotic tropical fruit that we can't get here. Do you know of ackee? Tried and germinated a couple but too cold to get established. I guess a lot of cacao where you are as well, would love to grow one but no hope without a glasshouse setup here.

Gregory MacCarthy says... Hah! I have an ackee growing in my yard.
I just pruned it back severely in order to let some light into the garden during the wet.
It is a native of W. Africa. Seeds were taken to the Caribbean. "Ackee and Saltfish" is the national dish of Jamaica. I, myself, do not eat Ackee owing to the fact that it requires special preparation in order to remove the toxins from the flesh. I don't have time for that.
I rent the compound that I'm in and my landlord had planted a few trees around the place and Ackee was one of them. In fact, you can view the seedling surrounded by concrete blocks in the "before" photo above. It is slightly obscuring the view of the ancient steamroller - that still sits there to this day.
The roadsides in Ghana are not dripping with fruit, unfortunately. Rather, it is Australia that has an incredible cross - section of temperate, sub - tropical and tropical delights. When I lived in Oz -for a dozen years - it was Far North Queensland that had an incredible array of exotic goodies. But, as mentioned in my previous post, the gear that Daley's offers makes me weak at the knees. As far as I know, know one was growing blue berries or raspberries in N. NSW in the 80's and 90's let alone all the other gear from D's website. Phew!
Where I live, in northern Ghana, it is difficult to grow fruit because of the erratic town water supply and the fact that it can get up to 50C before the rain hits. As I write this, it is raining like the Dickens and of course there are very few facilities set up to catch all of this water. Bummer.
In my garden I have lime, grapes, guava, pineapple, papaya, plantain, moringa, bananas, mango. Just sprouting some passion fruit seeds from fruit bought at extortionate prices 850 k's south of here.
Would love to get some decent avo seeds but all the avocados I had here are watery, bitter and fibrous. Probably too hot to grow them in my area anyway.
Cheers Phil!

Mike says... Gregory we do have it lucky in FNQ with the diversity of fruits available to grow.In southern Africa and eastern africa there really isn't the range of fruits commonly grown on other continents from what I saw and from markets and visits to shops.It is basically the same species that you mentioned.SE Asia has a much greater variety of fruit and veg. than northern Australia and you could order the seeds of many.The WI hybrid avos from hawaii and florida would grow at 8N latitude in Ghana and we have none of those in Australia.Just avoid any with mexican blood (sap) or predominantly guatemalan.It would cost alot but they are delivered internationally by some on-line nurseries.I would also try central and sth american companies.Some of the annonas,sapodillas,sapotes,jackfruit and a host of others would thrive in your climate and have some drought resistance.Southern India has a similar climate and I would check what is grown there.

Gregory MacCarthy says... Thanks Mike and Nick!
Re; quarantine / customs, I always had the impression that one could smuggle a heard of cattle through the airport if need be. I just brought in a bag of paw paw seed and corriander from when I was yogically standing on me head in S. India. Yes, I saw sapotes and jackfruit there. I probably would have been strung up by Oz customs if caught.
Thanks for the great info by the way. I will look into this. It is raining like mad, as I write this and the river, about 100 m behind me has over flown and has now covered my latest banana / plantain crop while also lapping at the foundation of the house.
Quite often, when we get rains like this, they will open the floodgates on dams in Burkina Faso which exacerbates the problem.
When I was travelling through Thailand in the early 80's, a whole new world, in terms of fruit and veg unfolded through a haze of dope smoke. Growing up in Vancouver, I had no idea of the fruits and veg that existed. Incredible! But still, Mike, one has to admit that FNQ has a pretty incredible offering. I can remember I stayed at a place up on the Tablelands called Mary River Farm - I think the closest town was called Mareeba(?) from memory.
We grew a wide variety of fruits there. God, that place was beautiful!
Anyway guys, I have to watch these water levels behind my house. Will look into all the offerings of seed and various seed companies after I make my landlord an offer on the land.
Very grateful for all of your inputs!!!!!
Still would like to find out how Daley's dwarfed that paw paw. Who knows, I might even ring them.
Cheers. Greggo.

Mike says... Gregory, it sounds like you are talking about Maryfarms between Mt Carbine and Mount Molloy,maybe 70km NE of Mareeba.It is the Einasleigh Uplands rather than the Atherton Tablelands being lower and drier.Mary Creek comes off Mt Lewis which is about as good as rainforest gets in Australia.
I presume you are near Tamate'.If you could get seeds of Thai dwarf paw paw or aussie red they would be a sensation over there.

Gregory MacCarthy says... That sounds about right Mike. Mary Farms was a beautiful place. Highly disfunctional at the time, but the location was a gift. Mary creek - it seemed a lot more of a river - gave us beautiful water to drink and for irrigation. Close by was a joint where a guy made the best pies that I have ever had.
Tamale is 150k to the south of me. They get more rain but we have ground water here. The only thing about our ground water is that in some areas there are very high levels of naturally occurring flouride. Many deep wells that have been drilled have had to be capped because of this.
For the papaya that I grow now, it is from seed that I got from fruit in Accra -850k to the south- on the coast. The papaya from there is small with very sweet pink/ red flesh. As good as any that I have tasted. That is the source of my seed stock but the generation that grows here is usually bigger with a different shape - probably a result of the original fruit being a hybrid.
From what I observed in South India, the fruit was quite large with gorgeous pink / red flesh.
Thai dwarf sounds great Mike. Thanks heaps for the armloads of comments.
Here is the link to the Daley you tube vid on papaya from cuttings.

Phil@Tyalgum says... Hey Gregory, have you ever tried white sapote (casimiroa)? Flavour of the month here atm, prob too hot for you guys but well worth growing, half the reason I moved up here from Victoria is to grow them.

Gregory MacCarthy says... Hello Phil!
No I haven't tried growing any sapote.
I checked all the stuff that you are growing - edible fruit trees - very impressive!!!!
Are you in Tyalgum or Murwillumbah?
I used to drive through that area when I was staying at Natural Bridge.
Presently, we are getting a lot of flooding and are on flood watch. The power is out and my battery is low. Gotta' go! Be well!
Greggo

Phil@Tyalgum says... Hey Greg yes am at Tyalgum, I use Murwillumbah as my location as I guess more forum users would be familiar with it. Natural Bridge is a stunning location eh?
Nice little video of Tyalgum in the link below

john/ darwin says... I have grown from seed about 20 red paupau trees.they are 5 months old and already producing fruit.My problem is half are bisexual the other half are female.You can see my problem no males.
I have two yellow paupaus that came up on their own, one is bisexual the other is a male with plenty of flowers.Can I
polinate my reds from this yellow male.
I would appreciate an opinion from your readers.

Rev says... Hi Gregory
I'm living In indonesia at the moment
I'm after some ghanaian medicinal plants sent as seed to indonesia
I can send seed of other things back the other way, rambutan, durian, mangosteen, mangos, kweni etc
If you are interested email me
WalkaboutAsiA@gmail.com
Here's a blog started of wierd stuff I find :)
Www.bulelicious.blogspot.com
Www.balikebun.bloodspot.com
Www.tropicalfoodforest.blogspot.com

Mike says... Howdy Nick,I think you'll find that the un-named Thai types from seed packets are all of similar form.They tend to be red bisexuals that are short and have firm and sweet fruit.They are the best ones for green pawpaw salad as well but might be hard to grow in cooler areas..

Nick says... G'day mike, I'm excited to hear that they might be bisexuals and that they're good for salads. I remember a delicious cotton fish with green mango salad I had in Thailand, is there any taste difference between green papaya and green mango?

Mike says... Howdy Nick, green paw paw needs sweet,sour,spicy and savoury ingredients like lime juice,fish sauce,chili,sugar and something with body such as pdak or salted crabs.You can cook them hard green like a.....choko/squash or when they are yellowing inside and it is like sweet pumpkin.Green mangoes already have the sour tang and the ingredients are adjusted accordingly.Green fingers of it can be eaten with just a bit of salt like green guavas.

snottiegobble says... Mike, my earliest fruit are maybe half grown & being where we are in Sw WA our continued warm weather should end about end of March. These fruit have short stalks, but above them are fruit with long stalks & then flowers. Are you saying that they will all be edible? We ate a green pawpaw dish in Darwin & have never forgotten how nice it was.

Mike says... SG They are alright for paw paw salad from a bit over half size until a bit beyond the flesh colour yellowing.For roasting/baking from 2/3 to full size and even when flesh has yellowed is ok.Fresh ones are best when picked 1/3 yellow or more.The length of the stalks is not as important as how old they are.

snottiegobble says... We have been enjoying Thai green papaya salad for quite a few months now, but due to winter the poor tree has lost most of its older leaves!Amazingly the fruit are hanging in there & flowers are still forming in the crown, but of course not coming to anything!

VF says... Sounds yummy SG - I'll try it too as I have a glut of papaya. I've been using mine as a vegie in stir-fries and curries (need to slice pretty thin, sort of like tinned bamboo shoots, otherwise can take long time to cook).

VF says... SG, I never thought about adding to soup - I'll try it next time I make some Tom Yum (I think it should be nice).
Danny, good looking trees - looks like you too will be looking for ways to use your fruit up!

Peter says... Are there any people growing and supplying fresh
paw paw leaves to cancer patients.
I live in melbourne and have cancer and would like someone to supply me with fresh leaves weekly.
My email address is pkschroder@gmail.com

snottiegobble says... Peter, maybe you should also source soursop tea,& use ginger root, turmeric, mangosteen juice, asparagus ( in any form) & apricot kernels! All proven fighters of cancer cells.
The more strings to your bow the louder your music, if you know what I mean!

denise1 says... Soursop leaves are said to fight cancer cells only, not healthy body cells. It also kills treatment resistant cancer cells. I am only repeating findings of a study on a website. You can import dried soursop leaves from tropilab. 2 pounds of dried leaves cost me around $100. I suppose fresh leaves would work better. Soursop juice is said to be good too,I wonder if the canned diluted drink is good enough.

mary says... Hi am I able to buy fresh paw paw leaf of anyone anybody I am finding it very difficult to find!! I am in Adelaide but happy to pay postage to get it here please please can anybody help me :):)

Jason says... Hey I've been wondering for a while about a Mountain Papaya I have. For a few years it only made male flowers then one day it decided to make female flowers then it cycled back to male. It's been continuing this cycle ever since. There is some overlap so you get fruit on either end of the female cycle... Pretty strange. Is that normal behaviour for C. Papaya too ?

Brendan says... Long time ago, I had a male pawpaw tree, and I tried the old-wives-trick of driving a 6" nail through the trunk, to make it bear fruit. Guess what, it worked! Yeah I know it sounds hard to believe! The fruit was a lot sweeter than it's female cousins (most males are! LOL).
I remember there was hardly any seeds inside his fruits too?

starling says... I can believe that Brendan--apparently a lot of species respond to physical damage (this forces them to fruit for some reason). I had a friend who grew a certain outlawed 'herb' and he used to beat it with a stick to encourage it to do what he wanted it to.

Thithi says... I think paw paw can handle the sun very well. My paw paw is about 50cm high in full sun, no problem. I put my another seedling 20cm high in full sun as well. Medium sun should be ok for your seedling. Did I mention that my garden is exposed to harsh scorched afternoon sun.

denise1 says... Generally plants that come out of a greenhouse should be given semishade to harden, or just put out in cloudy weather. If planting out straight from the greenhouse just make a shadecloth around them. Plants such as mango and Eugenia jambos that have red new leaves adapt faster. At certain times most plants adapt immediately and at other times they will frazzle up quickly. It may be due to dryness of air, stage of the moon, or sunspots causing harmful rays I dunno. With valuable plants full care should be given anyway. I had ho trouble with putting big papaya outdoors with frostcloth draped over for a few days. I left one leaf uncovered to see the difference and it was all good that time.